Top 15 Android apps for 2017

expressvpn

If you want to keep your Android device safe on sketchy public Wi-Fi, you’ll need a solid VPN, and ExpressVPN is one of the most trusted, secure brands in the virtual private network industry, and that’s for good reason. It’s super fast and extremely safe, boasting an SSL-secured network with 256-bit encryption and, get this, unlimited bandwidth and speed. ExpressVPN has servers in 78 countries (including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and others) in over 100 locations around the world, so there will always be a location near you to give you the best experience possible. It’s definitely one of the best Android apps! See our ExpressVPN Review.

1Weather

1Weather is arguably the best weather app out there. It features a simple, paginated design that shows you the current weather, forecast for up to 12 weeks, a radar, and other fun stats. Along with that, you’ll get a fairly decent set of lightly customizable widgets and the standard stuff like severe weather notifications and a radar so you can see the storms approaching. Perhaps its best feature is its minimal design which just shows you the weather (and fun facts, if you want). The free version is the completely full version and the $1.99 in-app purchase only removes the advertising. Most will also likely enjoy the range of weather fun facts the app offers as well. It’s one of those must-try Android apps!
Blue Mail

Blue Mail is probably the best all-around email app out there. It features a simple interface, compatibility with virtually every email provider, and it just keeps things clean. There are also a set of smart settings that can help you customize your experience. It also comes with Android Wear support, the ability to lock up private emails, widgets, color coding, and a lot more. It's powerful, simple, and best of all it's completely free to download and use. People don't write about it anymore, but it gets updated frequently and rocks a 4.7 out of 5 star rating on Google Play. It's one of those Android apps worth your time.
Blue Mail
Google Drive Suite

Google Drive is a cloud storage solution available on Android where all new users get 15GB for free permanently upon signing up. You can, of course, buy more if needed. What makes Google Drive so special are the suite of Android apps that are attached to it. They include Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Photos, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Keep. Between the office apps, the Photos app (which allows unlimited photo and video backup), and Keep for note taking, you have apps for practically anything you need to do in terms of productivity. Some of the features of these apps include live collaboration, deep sharing features, and compatibility with Microsoft Office documents.

Google Maps and Waze

Google Maps virtually owns the navigation apps scene and it remains of the best Android apps ever. It gets frequent, almost weekly updates that seem to only add to its incredibly generous list of existing features. Aside from the very basics, Google Maps gives you access to places of interest, traffic data, directions to things like rest stops or gas stations, and they even let you have offline maps now (albiet temporarily). If you add to that the Waze experience, which includes tons of its own features, and you won’t need another navigation app. Ever.

Google Now and Google Assistant

Google Now and Google Assistant are powerful Android apps. They're also both pretty much the same thing. Google Now is a voice assistant like Cortana or Siri. Assistant is much like Google Now except it takes things to the next level. Originally, Assistant was meant for only Google Pixel phones and Google Allo. However, after Mobile World Congress 2017, it started rolling out to more devices. You can use these things to voice search, send texts, issue voice commands, and do all sorts of other things. It's worth having. Trust us.

Google Play Music and YouTube

We don't typically recommend streaming services to people. Everyone has their preferences and saying that one is better than another is a matter of opinion at this point. Except for Google Play Music. The app can read both your local files and the music you like online. Additionally, you can upload tens of thousands of songs to the service for free. YouTube is kind of a given. There's more content there than a human person can watch in several lifetimes. That includes music videos, educational videos, news videos, reviews, video game let's plays, and a whole lot more. There is a single subscription that covers both services. It's a fantastic deal.

LastPass Password Manager

LastPass is one of those must-have Android apps. It's a password manager that lets you save your login credentials in a safe, secure way. On top of that, it can help generate nearly impossible passwords for you to use on your accounts. It's all controlled with a master password. It has cross-platform support so you can use it on computers, mobile devices, tablets, or whatever. There are others, but LastPass always feels like it's one step ahead. Additionally, the premium version is cheap. You can also grab LastPass Authenticator to go along with it for added security.

Nova Launcher

Initially, we weren’t going to put any launchers on this list. Nova Launcher seems to be extend beyond what normal launchers are. It’s been around for years, it’s been consistently updated, and thus it’s never not been a great option for a launcher replacement. It comes with a host of features, including the ability to backup and restore your home screen set ups, icon theming for all of your Android apps, tons of customization elements for the home screen and app drawer, and more. You can even make it look like the Pixel Launcher if you want to. If you go premium, you can tack on gesture controls, unread count badges for apps, and icon swipe actions. There’s not much else to say. It’s just that good.

Pocket Casts

Those who enjoy podcasts probably have the easiest decision in regards to which podcast app that should use. The answer to that question is Pocket Casts. This insanely stable and good looking app allows you to download or stream various podcasts for your enjoyment. It features both audio-only and video podcast support so you can catch up on just about anything. There is also a light and dark theme, a sign-in feature so you can sync your podcasts across devices, and a pretty decent recommendations function. It’s the last podcast app you’ll have to download and one of the best Android apps out there.

Solid Explorer

File browsing is something everyone inevitably has (or wants) to do, so you might as well do it with a capable, fantastic file browser. Solid Explorer is pretty much as good as it gets in the file explorer apps realm. It features Material Design, archiving support, support for the most popular cloud services, and even some more power user stuff like FTP, SFPT, WebDav, and SMB/CIFS support. It looks great, it’s incredibly stable, and it just works well. You can get a 14-day free trial, but ultimately the app costs $1.99 which isn’t a bad price. It’s one of those Android apps everyone should have.

SwiftKey

SwiftKey Keyboard is one of the most powerful and customizable third-party keyboards available. It hit the market several years ago with a predictive engine unlike anything any other keyboard had and the app has grown a lot of over the years. It’s a free download and you can purchase themes for it if you want to. Other features include a dedicated number row, SwiftKey Flow which allows for gesture typing, multiple language support, cross-device syncing of your library and much more. It’s about as good as it gets in the keyboard space. It’s true that Microsoft now owns SwiftKey, but so far they have managed not to mess it up.

Tasker

Tasker is a glorious application if you have the patience to learn how to use the app. What it does is allow users to create custom made commands and then use them in various places. There are many apps out there that have Tasker support and you can even use Tasker to create very complex commands for NFC tags. It’s difficult to truly explain what this app can do because it can do so many things. Between the apps supported, plugins you an add, and the sheer volume of stuff that you can do, there aren't many apps out there as useful as this one.

Textra

All phones come with a texting app. Those apps usually aren't very good. Textra is among the most solid Android apps out there. It covers the basics well. You can send SMS and MMS messages to your friends. That includes group texts. The app can also be themed. You can choose a dark or light background, a primary color, and an accent color. Thus, no two Textra set ups look alike unless you want them to. Additionally, a helpful bot exists in the app to deliver news about updates and what have you. It's better than your stock texting app.

Wunderlist

Wunderlist is among the best Android apps for getting things done. It’s a to-do list app that helps you keep track of various tasks that you want or need to do. It’s great for basic stuff like remembering to take out the trash or more complex things like tasks that need done at work. Unlike most, the free version supports the basic functions, like reminders, while the pro version is made for more business-oriented individuals. It’s a versatile app and you can even use it for grocery lists if you get creative enough. It’s a free download which is also nice.

Zedge

Last, but certainly not least on our list is Zedge. This is a wallpapers, ringtones, notification tones, and alarm tones app that gives you an unbelievable number of options to customize the most basic parts of your device. On top of having an exhaustive collection of things, Zedge also promotes various items during holiday seasons making it easy to theme your phone up for Christmas, Halloween, and other holidays. It’s not the most perfect app and the advertisements are very irritating. On top of that, their wallpaper selections may not be great for higher resolution displays (you can find better ones). However, if you can get passed that, you’re looking at one of the last really good ringtone Android apps out there.